In Summary

• The microprocessor 'engines' that run computers at present have inherent limits on parallelism, scalability, and reliability to effectively handle newer, more complex computing challenges. The emerging need is for newer machines that can handle the extra demands placed on servers today.

• Enterprises that need large amount of analytical, “number crunching” computing power will gain immediate benefits from the Intel Itanium architecture. This is because systems powered by an Itanium processor have improved floating-point mathematical power and can handle larger datasets and bandwidth-hungry applications.

• The early architectures such as CISC and RISC paved the way for the Itanium architecture development. The synergy resulting from the partnership with Intel enabled Itanium technology to leapfrog forward beyond RISC technologies to create the next 20-year architecture.

• Moore's First Law results in the spiraling increase in microprocessor power. This has resulted in a parallel phenomenon in the computer software industry: That is, as microprocessors and systems can handle more data and process it faster, applications grow to use the greater amount of power available on any given computer.

• Moore's Second Law, which addresses the rapidly increasing cost of producing faster and more advanced chips by shrinking the line size and requiring new plants and equipment, is mitigated by the Itanium architecture. This is because Itanium's advantage comes from more efficient use of the transistors on the chip by eliminating the overhead created by high performance out-of-order execution RISC designs. Instead, the transistors on the chip are used to directly increase the power and to provide a “multiplier” to the clock speed, allowing a large price-performance gain.